This Year's Girl
by Wings-san
Summary: Everything changes over the years- people, relationships-and not always in the way we'd like them to. (Tomoyo story)*Ch 3 is up.*
1. Prologue- As You Were

          This Year's Girl 

            Prologue- As You Were

            Fate.

            Destiny.

            These things rarely work out the way they're supposed to. In a strange way, that's what led to the way things are. My outlook on life has changed since I was little. I had everything planned out. People would stay the same, unchanging. Friendships, relationships would always be the comfortable, familiar things they were then. I would make clothes for Sakura and video-tape her every move. We would grow up of course; go to high school, college. Sakura would get over her infatuation for Yukito and realize that I was the one she loved the most.

            Sakura's happiness was my happiness. Denial is easier to lose yourself in when you're young.

            Obviously, everything has changed quite a bit. And none of it's close to the way I'd planned.

            Change. Good or bad?

            That's highly debatable.

A/N-*cough* That's a little dark, especially for CCS. Oh, well. Before anyone says something about it, I dropped Tomoyo's use of the –chan suffix on Sakura's name, at least in her thoughts and when talking to certain people, to show how much has changed and how much she and everyone else have grown from the children they were.

Disclaimer- If you're really stupid enough to think I own it, please do the world a favor and remove yourself from the gene pool immediately.


	2. Chapter One- Little Earthquakes

This Year's Girl 

    Chapter One-Little Earthquakes

    "Where could she be?" I wondered absently to myself. I took a sip of tea and stretched out in my chair, drawing appreciative looks from around the café 'Not if Hell froze over" I thought, giving the young man who was headed towards me a Look. He quickly went in another direction.

"Sakura-chan is the only one for me. Her happiness is my happiness"

I told myself that a lot since we started high school.

And since Li-kun had returned to Japan-permanently.

Meiling had come with him and she had been pushing them together a lot more, trying to "get things going" as she put it. She had been startled at my…reluctance to help her, since I had so enthusiastically plotted to get Sakura-chan to admit her feelings to Li-kun. Then she got an odd look on her face.

"Tomoyo…"she started.

  I beamed at her. "Yes?"

She paused. "Nothing. It's nothing…

I sighed. Life was as interesting as ever, though not in the magical sense. That didn't mean magical things had stopped happening. Several magic users had had the gall to challenge Sakura for possession of the Cards. They had been beaten, of course. And the Li clan was still something of a problem. They wanted the Cards. They thought that the Cards were **their** birthright, never mind the fact that Clow Reed had chosen Sakura to be the Card Mistress. I also doubted that they were particularly pleased with the idea that there were two incarnations of Clow Reed running around. I gathered that, from what Hiiragizawa-kun had told me, Clow and the Li clan had been somewhat at odds with each other.

Li-kun had talked with Meiling and me about returning to Hong Kong for a short while so that he and his mother could sort things out amongst the Li clan. We were forbidden to talk to Sakura about this, of course.

A flash of gold-brown caught my eye, distracting me from my thoughts. Sakura-chan came racing through the door.

"Tomoyo-chan! I'm so sorry I'm late!" she said.

I smiled at her. 

"It's all right, Sakura-chan."

A/n- Dammit, these chapters aren't turning out as long as I want them to. Hn.*pouts* Anyways, this chapter was mostly to give you an idea about what's been going on since the end of the second movie, and to introduce characters and various reactions events, whatever. I'm also setting up for something.*does the Tomoyo Laugh. Badly.* Ho ho ho ho ho.

Once again, Card Captor Sakura does not belong to me. It belongs to CLAMP, Kodansha, and *shudders and holds up a cross * Nelvana. Ugh. That left a bad taste in my mouth. Flames are very welcome. I need something to laugh at. E-mail and reviews are also encouraged. Bai bai!


	3. Chapter Two- Landslide

This Year's Girl

   Chapter Three- Landslide

    Sakura smiled at me across the table.

            "Syaoran and I talked to Li-san." She paused.

             I smiled. "And..?" 

            Sakura blushed faintly. "She's given us her blessing." 

             I stared. "What?" I had no idea what Sakura was talking about. Suddenly my stomach twisted. No. 'I don't want to hear this.' I thought.

            "For us to get married, of course." She frowned. "Didn't I tell you? I must have forgotten. I'm so sorry. Tomoyo-chan."

            I felt sick. "It's okay. That's wonderful news, Sakura-chan." 

            She beamed. "Tomoyo-chan…would you be my maid of honor?"

            Twist the knife a little deeper. "Of course I will."

            Still smiling, she started talking about what few plans she and Li-kun had made.

            I tuned her out and went to my own thoughts.

            I thought about our mothers.

            Every girl's greatest fear is becoming her mother. I have strived to not turn into Sonomi Daidouji and, unlike so many other girls, I have succeeded. I would not hold Sakura back from her happiness, nor would I hate Li-kun. Contrary to what my mother says, I suspect that in a strange way she loves Fujitaka Kinomoto almost as much as she loved Nadesico. Li-kun is one of my best friends. I love him like a brother. He makes Sakura-chan happy in a way that I cannot. She loves him in a way that she will never love me.

 Who says I can't be just a little bitter? I took a sip of my tea. 

"Tomoyo-chan? Are you okay?" Sakura's voice brought me crashing back to reality.

"What?"

She frowned. "Are you okay? You spaced out for a moment."

I smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine. Just a little tired. I think I'll go home now." I winced. I was babbling.

She didn't look convinced. "Are you sure? You look a little pale…"

"I'm fine, Sakura." I said sharply. I flinched at the look on her face. "I'm sorry…I just…I have a lot to do…" I actually did. Chorus, student council, the upcoming festival, plus school in general. But I could handle all that. Reality was the problem. Sakura smiled at me uncertainly.

"It's okay, Tomoyo-chan. Why don't you go home and rest? I'll see you tomorrow." 

I nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sakura-chan."  This time her smile was steady, though I could see the concern on her face. Concern for me…

Her best friend.  But now she was leaving. When she and Li-kun were married they would probably move to Hong Kong. Visits would be rare, as I had no doubt that we would all be busy. I would no longer be her confidant, the one she came to with her sadness and her happiness. She would, of course, try to find someone to make me happy, oblivious to the fact that she was only hurting me more…

I got up and walked out of the café.  The day mocked me. It was beautiful out. The sun was shining brilliantly; there were no clouds in the sky. It was nice and warm and I hated it. I turned and headed towards the park. I would take a walk before going home. And then I would start on Sakura-chan's wedding dress. 

'Sakura-chan's happiness is my happiness.'

A/N- Well. That's…depressing. I finally got off my lazy ass and did something. Next chapter is already drafted. I hope to have it up soon. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. Bai bai!


	4. Chapter Three- All You Ever Wanted

This Year's Girl 

   Chapter Three- All You Ever Wanted

    "Sakura chan's happiness is my happiness," I murmured aloud.

            "That's bullshit. And you know it, Daidouji."

            I whirled around, startled. 

"Meiling!" I wonder what she was doing here. She'd gone back to Hong Kong a few weeks before school had started. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for the wedding, of course." She paused. "And I'm also here for you."

"What?"

She glared at me. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. You think I didn't notice?"

"Notice what?" Maybe if I played dumb long enough she'd leave me alone. It had worked before.

All it did was piss her off.

"Dammit, Tomoyo! Don't you care about yourself at all?! What about _your _happiness? What about _your _right to love someone who loves you, not someone who thinks you're her best friend and everything's just peachy between all of you?!"

I was silent. She glared at me even harder.

"There is no one else…that makes me…truly…happy…" I trailed off.

Meiling rolled her eyes. "Sakura does not make you truly happy. You just think she does."

"I-I would be betraying…"I stopped. I would be betraying Sakura-chan by loving someone else. 'Would you?' a voice at the back of my head asked, 'Or do you think you'd be betraying yourself?' 'I already am betraying myself…I'm not being true to me.' A thought, an answer lay shadowed at the back of my mind. The Answer I was seeking. But, just as fleetingly as it appeared, it disappeared. Meiling stood there, silent as she watched me have an internal battle with myself.

I ran my fingers through my hair. "I…I…don't know. I just don't know."

"Why don't you come and have tea with me?"

I nodded.

We sipped our tea in silence. Change. We've all changed, for better or worse. We have matured, grown out of old habits and into new. We'd made new friendships and strengthened old. The bonds between all of us are stronger than ever, even though not all of us are here in Tomoeda. I fleetingly wondered about Hiiragizawa-kun and Mizuki-sensei. I hadn't heard from either of them in a while…

"Meiling..?"

"Hmmm?" 

"Have you heard from Hiiragizawa-kun and Mizuki-sensei lately?"

Meiling blinked and stared at me for a moment. "You mean…he didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Mizuki-sensei got married…but not to Hiiragizawa."

"Oh…my."

"Mmhm. According to Ruby and Spinel, the break up wasn't pretty." She peered at me from across the table. "I wonder why one of them didn't tell you…they told the rest of us."

I shrugged. "Who knows."

*In England*

                                                                   You are formally invited to the wedding of 

                                                                        Xiao Lang Li and Sakura Kinomoto

                                                                       On May 12th at 1:00pm in Ueno Park

                                                                                     Please RSVP

                                                          P.S. I must be out of my mind asking _you_ this, Hiiragizawa, but would you be my best man?

                                                                                                                             -Syaoran

Eriol chuckled. "It's about time, Xiao Lang." He grinned as the person at the other end of the phone made noises that indicated he'd like to throttle Eriol. " And of course I'll be your best man. I'd be…honored."

"I'm sure you would." Syaoran muttered. He could _see_ the evil smirk spread across the Creep's face even though they were on different ends of the phone line. " I can't believe I got talked into letting you be my best man."

"Why, Syaoran, I'm hurt."

"Uh huh. Yeah. Actually, I do have an ulterior motive."

Eriol paused." And that would be..?"

"Tomoyo"

Silence. 

"Don't think I didn't notice the way you looked at her the last time you were here, Kaho or no."

More silence. Then, "I gather that she is not over Sakura-san yet?"

"No, but-"

"Then I can't do anything. Tomoyo-san won't ever think of me in that way."

" She's not happy! She deserves to be happy!"

"I'll see you in a few days, Li-kun." He hung up.

A/N-*sobs* This chapter was so HARD!! Anyways, this fic *is* E+T. The Ueno Park thing is a reference to Tokyo Babylon, another of CLAMP's works. I just couldn't resist.^^ Thanks for all the reviews, and a big huge than you to Yori-chan, who has reviewed every chapter. You're the best. Go read her stories, they're wonderful. Bai bai!


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